


Tales From Grandpa Chuckie

by Trins_xxx



Category: All Grown Up!, Rugrats
Genre: F/F, F/M, Geek Chic, High School, Intelligent Angelica, M/M, Multi, Sarcastic Angelica, Teen Angst, teen drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2015-09-11
Packaged: 2018-04-20 05:58:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4776218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trins_xxx/pseuds/Trins_xxx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or... How Chuckie Finally Married The Love Of His Life.</p><p>Chuckie decides to regale his granddaughters with the story of how he married the love of his life (finally), although it's not even remotely as romantic as they had imagined it to be. Ah well... They were in high school now. It was time they realised that real life was messy, painful, traumatically (particularly high school) and never the beautiful chrome images that Hollywood would have them believe in.</p><p>Ch 1: With only a slightly trembling voice, he finally confirmed in. 'Oh sweetie, your grandmother was an absolute bitch in our youthful days.' A stunned silence met his statement, which he ignored in favour of taking a particularly delicious looking cookie. Taking his time to savour the taste, he finally turned his attention back to his poor gobsmacked granddaughters. 'Don't be so shocked – you haven't come across her in a bad mood yet. And that's just a normal bad mood. Satan would be scared of her when she's in a really bad mood.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because the road that leads to Angelica/Chuckie could never be anything short of entertaining. I hope you enjoy reading this as much I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> Please do be warned that within this story, there will be implied and occasionally explicit references to underage non-con. There's none in this chapter.

Sometimes Charlize really hated her little sister, Cheryl. It irked her that their names started with the same sound, thanks to some crazy quirk in her parents. It pissed her off like mad when Cheryl would sneak into her room and 'borrow' clothes or use her make-up. Most of all, it drove her up the wall when there was nobody home apart from the two of them, and Cheryl would get so bored that she wouldn't stop bugging Charlize, like today.

'For the last time, Cheryl,' she snarled (again), 'go away.'

'So you can talk to your boyfriend?' The annoying little sister sniggered back at her. As a matter of fact, Charlize prided herself on being a modern, independent young woman, with no need of unnecessary accessories, like a boyfriend, but that didn't mean that these unintentional taunts didn't make her want to punch her sister in the face!

She stood up tall in all of her five foot two inch glory and with a face frightening enough to make her sister take a step back, she gritted her teeth. 'Get OUT!'

There was a blessed hour of peace that Charlize enjoyed to its full extent, doing nothing in particular but at least doing it without her sister. She was walking down the stairs, toying with the idea of ordering some Chinese food for dinner when she overheard her sister on the phone.

'Oh it's no big deal. I was just kinda bored but if you're busy...' Cheryl did her best to hide her dejection. 'Yeah, okay, I'll talk to you later.'

Charlize wasn't a great sister and she never prided herself on that, but once in a while, she did decide to be nice to her. Biting back a sigh, she knocked on Cheryl's door. 'I'm thinking of heading over to Grandpa Chuckie's place. Do you want to come?'

'Yeah, of course.' There was a radiant smile on Cheryl's face, as she quickly tied her strawberry blonde hair into a messy ponytail and quickly put on some trainers. It took less than five minutes for the two girls to get into Charlize's second-hand Toyota and speed the eight miles to their grandpa's house.

It wasn't Charlize's first choice for her evening plans but it wasn't the worst outcome either. Grandpa Chuckie was ridiculously nice, there was always good food available (especially when they ordered takeaway) and her nana normally had some sort of little present lying around. The ring she was wearing right now had been one of those funky presents and the best thing was that they were fully modern, so she could surf the TV or the net whilst her sister could hang out with the grandparents.

It was sort of sad, Charlize thought, that her little sister had basically only one good friend in school. Sure, she didn't have to be popular or have a posse but just the one friend seemed like a lonely way of life. The big smile on Cheryl's face seemed to indicate otherwise, though, as they walked up the small steps of their grandparents' porch.

'Grandpa!' Cheryl had wrapped her arms around Chuckie before he could even say hello when he opened the door, but he returned the hug warmly, throwing an amused, quizzical glance at Charlize.

'Guess you girls must've been bored.' One his hands swept through his hair in a familiar, nervous gesture. 'Come inside. Have you two had dinner? I'll order in some food – I don't think you're grandmother will be here for a while.'

The words tripped past one another in a nervous tangle. 'Chinese will be great,' Charlize replied for both of them, her sister having already moved into the kitchen. 'Where's nana? Isn't she normally home by now?'

She was observant enough to notice the slightly queer expression that came over her grandfather's face but she wasn't astute enough to really comprehend it.

'She's just a little busy today,' her grandfather replied.

It didn't really answer the question, she thought, but she didn't pursue the matter further, losing interest as swiftly as it had come and moving onto more pressing matters, like what was on TV. She had just flicked past VH1 (boring) and found the latest hip-hop-slash-dance song on MTV when a plate of cookies found their way in her line of vision.

'Thought you might be a little hungry while we waited for dinner to arrive.'

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled at her grandfather in response, earning a grin from him.

'Grandpa Chuckie, when did you meet nana?' It was hard to decipher Cheryl's question until she had swallowed her mouthful and repeated it.

'When did I meet her? When I was a baby,' Grandpa Chuckie settled himself next to Charlize on the sofa, as Cheryl's eyes grew big and round.

'Wow,' she breathed. 'So you guys were, like, childhood sweethearts!'

Charlize would have snorted in derision if her grandfather's reaction hadn't taken her aback so much. After exclaiming a 'what' and a 'no way', with a head shaking manically from side to side, he started laughing. Honest to god, Charlize would swear that she saw tears of laughter in his eyes, and, she admitted to herself and nobody else, she was dying of curiosity to find out just what was so funny about that question. If they'd known each other since they were a baby and got married and were, like, soul mates or whatever, didn't that essentially define childhood sweethearts?

Apparently it didn't, she thought drily. For once, it seemed like her sister was on the same wavelength as her, as she asked about the very same thing a few seconds later. 'Wait, if you guys knew each other as babies and then got married, how are you not childhood sweethearts?'

For the first time in her life, Charlize noticed possibly the most patronising look she has ever seen and that on the face of her favourite grandfather. She didn't know it was possible for him to have a face other than cheerfully happy or trying-and-failing-at-looking-annoyed-with-his-dar ling-granddaughters. This evening was turning out to be a lot more interesting than she had thought possible.

'Sweetie, childhood sweethearts tend to love each other in their childhood, so no, we are definitely not childhood sweethearts.'

Charlize finally gave up on feigning any interest in the TV and turned around to directly stare at Grandpa Chuckie. She was sure her eyes were as wide as her sister's right now – they were certainly starting to ache a little bit. She blinked away some of the discomfort as her sister got into full interrogation mode. It seemed almost out of place to not see a notepad and paper in her heads. Even having a lamp on full blast in his face would have been in keeping with the current atmosphere.

'So you knew nana when you were babies but you didn't love her when you were babies?' Cheryl demanded an answer but it seemed her grandfather just couldn't take her quite seriously today. Another grin was spreading across his face and he was clearly putting in a lot of effort to not laugh.

With only a slightly trembling voice, he finally confirmed in. 'Oh sweetie, your grandmother was an absolute bitch in our youthful days.' A stunned silence met his statement, which he ignored in favour of taking a particularly delicious looking cookie. Taking his time to savour the taste, he finally turned his attention back to his poor gobsmacked granddaughters. 'Don't be so shocked – you haven't come across her in a bad mood yet. And that's just a normal bad mood. Satan would be scared of her when she's in a really bad mood.'

'But why would you be with her if she's so mean and you don't love her?'

Cheryl's voice sounded so small that Chuckie stopped licking his fingers and turned to her. 'Hey, I didn't say I didn't love her. I do – lots.' A slightly rueful grin stole across his face. 'I guess I have a thing with danger.' They still didn't look convinced, so he continued. 'Sweetie, I love your grandmother as much because of her flaws as despite them. And that's true love – not thinking someone's perfect but thinking they're perfect because of their imperfections. And your grandmother, well...she was a bitch. And, trust me, I've called her a lot worse to her face. I love her now for it; it's just that I pretty much hated her for most of my childhood.'

'I just don't understand how you guys could end up falling in love and marrying.'

Chuckie felt really bad for chuckling at the statement when Cheryl looked so crestfallen and Charlize looked in shock but he couldn't help himself. It'd been a long time since he had thought about the twists and turns that had led him to the here and now and it was actually sort of nice thinking about it all. 'I hate that I'm breaking your heart and your innocence but I have to admit...we were sort of married and annulled it before we fell in love.'

'Wait, what?' Charlize had finally decided to become an active participant in the conversation.

There really had been a surprising number of twists and turns, now that he thought about it. 'Yeah, I guess it was sort of complicated.' He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, uncertain about whether he should have opened this ridiculous can of worms. He thought he'd grown out of this bad habit. It must have just been dormant all this time. 'It happened over years. Loads of years.'

'We've got time,' Charlize said, grabbing a cookie with a slow smirk crossing her face that had a strong resemblance to his wife's. He was wondering just how much trouble he'd be in for letting all this slip through. No matter the years, some memories were still painful and some things would rather remain as forgotten as possible but he had never been able to say no to his granddaughters before.

Besides, she had been cranky with him this morning. It could all be considered payback. Everything was fair in love and war, especially when the two were combined.

'Well...I guess it started when we were teenagers,' he began.

'You guess? You're not sure when it started?' Cheryl didn't bother asking what 'it' was – she just hoped her assumption was right that it was referencing their relationship.

'Well, it's difficult to say.' Chuckie tried to explain. 'For Angelica, it probably started when she was 14. I didn't really know the significance of it then until later – like a year and a half later. And for me, it started when I was 14 too.'

'So isn't that the same time?' It was Charlize that asked this time, crumbs falling inelegantly out of her mouth but appearances be damned. Her grandparent's love story seemed anything but straightforward now.

'Oh no.' A very gleeful expression came across Chuckie's face. 'It's a little known fact that my wife is a year older than me.' He was so sleeping on the couch tonight but it was most definitely worth it. 'So anyway, like I was saying, for Angelica, it started when she was 14, in the summer before she started high school. It was boiling during the day but it used actually become surprisingly chilly at nights, and on one of those nights, in the middle of the night in fact, I was in bed and asleep when I heard noises on my window that finally woke me up. Angelica was standing outside, throwing pebbles at my window and when I finally opened it, she threw one that hit me in my face.' His lips were twitching upwards at the memory.

'And that's how it started?' Charlize asked sceptically.

'Yup, that's how it all started.'

'And then what happened?' Cheryl asked him, staring expectantly with her sister and just this once, Chuckie decided to share the memories he liked to indulge in time and again.


	2. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Chuckie gets hit in the head with pebbles, Angelica does a reconstruction of classic teen movies (sans romance), Chuckie actually manages to have fun with Angelica (although he doesn't quite believe it), Charlize actually relates to her mum and the whole awkward, uncomfortable situation is saved by the bell, which reminds Charlize of something but she can't remember what and she might ask her grandfather about it because it's something ancient, probably...
> 
> ...
> 
> There was a pause and if Chuckie had been paying closer attention, he might've seen something, picked up a clue about what had really happened, what had changed the world, what had changed Angelica, but she was too far away, it was too late in the night and Chuckie was too tired, so he missed every one of the signs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for strongly implied underage non-con but nothing explicit.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it...

Making an indistinct sound that would have been impossible to describe using simple alphabet, Chuckie rubbed his eyes blearily, wondering what had woken him up. He realised what it was, moments later, as something hit his windows with a tap. Swallowing a startled yelp down his throat, his knuckles whitened as he clutched at the blankets surrounding him tighter, burrowing under it instinctively for comfort more than protection.

After hearing the sounds several more times, Chuckie had finally reached the point where the irritation outweighed the fear of danger. He sat up, resolutely shoving the blankets away even as he desperately wanted to cower under them again. His steps, firm in his mind, wobbly in reality, took him to the window with his heart thudding louder than the sounds of the objects hitting the window and falling down.

He'd opened the window and his mouth simultaneously, ready to shout at whoever (or whatever) that was doing this when the object hit his forehead instead of the window, hardly making a sound before dropping down to the ground.

'Ow! What the heck?' he said, louder than he realised, rubbing his forehead and becoming increasingly annoyed. Of all the things to happen… He was sure this would leave a bruise or a mark, which would mean that tomorrow, his mum would cluck with concern, his dad cheerfully compare it to some of his own injuries as a child, his sister would snigger before offering sympathy and all of his friends would have it further affirmed that he was a natural disaster waiting to happen.

'What the heck?' drifted a voice from beneath his window. As Chuckie squinted, the blob slowly transformed into Angelica. 'What the heck?' She repeated. 'Who in the world uses 'heck' nowadays? What are you, your own grandfather?' She giggled and if it sounded a little hysterical, she chose to ignore it whilst Chuckie never quite picked up on it, his annoyance turning everything into a shade of red.

'Fine,' he snapped, his mouth moving faster than his brain could tell it to shut up. 'What the hell, Angelica? Is that better? Is that what you wanted to hear? Is that why you've decided to come and disturb me at my home in the middle of the friggin' night?' At some point, he wasn't sure when, his anger had transformed into waving arms, making points of emphasis which didn't necessarily make sense but did make him feel better. They stilled as his rant of sorts ended, his breathlessness less the result of anger and more of anxiety by now. He'd be in for it now – there was no way in hell Angelica was going to let him get away with that.

'Friggin'?!' her voice drifted up to him, amusement flavouring it with colour. 'You know, if I didn't know time travel wasn't possible, I really would think you were your own grandfather, or maybe great grandfather.' She was looking up at him, the wind gently lifting her hair before letting it fall in a rhythmic dance. She was shivering slightly, her arms bare and no jacket in sight and for the first time that night, Chuckie actually genuinely wondered what she was doing outside his home, throwing what had to be pebbles at his window. It was reminiscent of all the teen movies the blonde would quote except the roles were all wrong and he somehow couldn't imagine her proclaiming her undying love (or infatuation was his personal interpretation of said teen movies) to him.

'Angelica, what are you really doing here?' His voice was much more gentle without the haze of red. 'And it would be pretty gross and incestuous if I was my own grandfather,' he added as an afterthought.

There was a pause and if Chuckie had been paying closer attention, he might've seen something, picked up a clue about what had really happened, what had changed the world, what had changed Angelica, but she was too far away, it was too late in the night and Chuckie was too tired, so he missed every one of the signs. He merely watched her as she seemed to stare back at him, assessing him for his worthiness to know, he thinks. Really, the stare is blank, recalling events she would much rather forget before she comes to.

'Why don't you come down here?' She says instead, half order, partially coy. 'Come sit with me and look at the stars?' She waves her arms in its vague direction, waiting for the redhead's decision.

He could blame it on fear or exhaustion but the truth is, he had no real idea why he did it. He found himself sighing and then trudging down the stairs, opening the front door and walking to the blonde's side. Despite a moon more full than not, it was too dark to see anything on Angelica, the bruises he would be later convinced must have been there, the look in her eyes. At the time, he just saw someone who bullied him sometimes and had, for whatever reason, decided to bug him late at night. Probably to get him into trouble, he thought indignantly. Despite his misgivings, he sat down next to where she's lying on the floor, in something that could be considered amicable silence.

The seconds slowly become minutes and Chuckie's lying on the ground by now. The silence is itching at his skin, leaving irritable marks that he can't get rid off and he keeps turning to look at the girl to his left. His mouth opens a few times before closing without making any sound. He's desperate to speak but unsure what to say and it's during one of his multitude of sidelong glances that he notices her shivering again. Even though it's the middle of the summer and it's been burning hot during the day, the night has brought with it a balmy wind that's strong enough to be chilly in the meagre clothing that they have on.

'Erm...Angelica?' He asks hesitantly. 'Do you want me to get you a blanket or something?'

It's too dark to see her face but the noise of the crickets isn't enough to disguise the hitch in her breath. He listens to the beat of his heart as he waits for some sort of response, permission really, to get her something to keep her warm. It's pathetic if he thought about it but he doesn't.

'Just...lie with me for a bit longer, Chuckles,' she says finally, and if it sounds a little strained, only her ears pick up on it. The innocent ginger doesn't seem to.

After a while longer, it became kinda comfortable, relaxing almost, once Chuckie managed to minimise how on edge he felt. It never left him completely – it was Angelica Pickles he was lying next to – but it subsided enough for him to actually...enjoy it. Huh; he'd never imagined in a million years that he would enjoy doing something with the scary blonde.

It took a lot longer for him to start pointing out constellations. Angelica had snorted the first time, and the second. By the third, she was creating her own constellations and from there, it was a small step to making crazy stories on how those constellations came to be, even if a lot of them were centred on a beautiful, golden-haired princess with mystical powers.

It was close to a couple of hours later before she made a move to leave, sitting up abruptly and wincing in pain from her cramped muscles, he'd thought. Now he wondered otherwise.

'Time I get a move on, Ginger,' she said, looking down and brushing her dress. It never occurred to him that she had never quite looked him in the face in all of this time.

'How are you going to get home, Angelica?' He looked around, as if searching for a magical form of transportation for her.

'I'll walk,' she'd replied breezily.

'What?' He'd yelped. 'But that's miles away.' He'd shut up when he heard her fed up sigh.

'I'll obviously go by a friend's house and get them to drop me the rest of the way.'

'Do you have any friends old enough to drive?' He'd asked sceptically, only to have her snap back a confirmation too quickly to be true.

`Okay then. Thanks for stopping by Angelica,' he'd said shyly. He'd had fun. With Angelica. It boggled his mind but he accepted it blithely, much like he accepted a lot of the crazy that came as part of Angelica's package. 'It was really fun.'

For the first time, she looked into his face. Chuckie had never realised that he was getting taller. The blonde's growing had slowed down a little beyond five foot and his was slowly creeping up, but it was enough of a difference that allowed him to realise he was taller than her. It could maybe make him feel powerful but it didn't really. It was never wise to mess with something (someone) that explosive.

'Thanks Chuckie.' It was still too dark to see more than an outline of her face but her lips had twisted upwards. 'I'll see you later,' she'd said before turning away and leaving. He'd headed back up to his room, wincing with each creak of the floor. Taking his glasses off and snuggling into the familiar comfort of his bed, the red lights from his clock told him that it was beyond three in the morning. It didn't bother him. It was the summer holidays and he wasn't opening the Java Lava that day; he could have a lie in for once and to hell with the consequences.

Maybe the time with Angelica had given him a confidence boost.

 

 

 

'And that's how it all started?' breathed Cheryl, eyes glittering full of romance and innocence. 'How romantic.' Charlize personally wanted to gag. Clichéd and revolting were more accurate descriptions.

'Yeah, sort of,' their grandfather shrugged, hands gripping a mug full of steaming fluid tightly. Maybe she was getting infected with her sister's fanciful nature but it seemed to Charlize that it made him seem mysterious, maybe even a little sinister. She shook such ridiculous thoughts off.

'So why did she come over? Did you ever find out?' The younger sister asked, leaning forward in physical representation of how eager she was.

The pause lasted too long, Charlize thought. And her grandfather never looked away from staring inside his mug, as if trying to see the future or the past in there. 'No, not really,' he said at last, voice strained; a clear lie if there ever was one. Not the first (Santa Claus came to mind) but it felt different this time and the feeling of unease grew within Charlize. She chanced a glance at her younger sister to find her pouting, clearly dissatisfied with the lack of answers.

'Didn't you ever ask her?' Cheryl probed further, probably oblivious to the atmosphere in the room.

'It's a story for your grandmother to tell,' he said, looking at them with an expression unusually stern. He'd rarely looked like that, not as far as Charlize could remember and the dread within her felt like it was doing a conga inside her stomach, churning it round and round. Unbidden, she could recall words and warnings her mother had given, about never trusting boys too much and always listening to her parents, always telling them where she was even if it was breaking the rules. We can deal with you breaking the rules. We can't deal with you dead or hurt. She'd never paid much heed to it but the look in her grandfather's face, his mug gripped so tightly that his knuckles were whitening, the refusal to say anything more...

'I don't mind you asking her about this later. I don't think she would mind. But not tonight,' he'd said, firmly enough that Cheryl hadn't thought to argue back.

'We won't,' Charlize was not entirely surprised that her voice sounded a little gravelly. Her throat felt dry and the thoughts, ideas, spinning inside her mind made her feel dizzy, sick. She couldn't imagine any of these things. Her life so far had been without any major kinks or problems and as mature as she thought herself to be, she didn't have enough empathy to even fathom some of the possibilities that had been opened up to her. She turned to her little sister, her baby sister and felt a surge of fierce protectiveness. Is this how her mother felt? And her grandmother? The strawberry blonde was looking at her questioningly and her grandfather had returned his frowning countenance to his mug and she had never been so relieved as when the doorbell rang.

'Food's here,' Cheryl's face brightened at the thought and she dashed to the door, opening it before her grandfather had even managed to retrieve his wallet. It lightened the atmosphere considerably.

Saved by the bell, the older sister thought wryly. The phrase reminded her of something but she couldn't quite remember what. She might ask her grandfather about that – a good change of topic. She sat at the kitchen table by herself, not able to completely shake off the implacable misgivings clinging to her. If she was honest, she wasn't willing to shake it off either. She felt like she owed it to her grandmother, the one who'd never let her suspect anything and had protected her from everything. She wished someone could have done the same for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! Tell me what you liked and what you hated, or even what you were indifferent to!

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me what you enjoyed and what you didn't. Any and all reviews are helpful!


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